[blparent] Finding ticks on kids nonvisually?

[Erin Rumer]

Hello all,

The longer a tick is on the skin the deeper they can dig their little heads
and part of their bodies into the skin.  A tick wants to suck blood for
nutrients so there's no reason they'd want to go into the skin entirely.
They can carry Lime's disease and other junk so that's why they're so nasty
aside from hurting and being gross.  If a tick hasn't dug itself too deep
into the skin one can grab it's body and twist in a circular motion until it
releases.  I've seen folks use the match method as well but this can chase
the tick further into the skin and then you've got part of the tick stuck
inside the skin while only part of the body is able to be removed.  A person
can get burned as well so I wouldn't recommend this method.  A really
effective method if you can't just grab hold and pull the tick out, is to
take some clear nail polish and gently coat the tick and surrounding area of
the tick.  This suffocates the tick quickly and makes it easy to remove them
once they're done.  A lot of times the tick will also pull away from the
body looking for air which makes it easier to get them off in one piece.
Ticks especially love warm parts of the body so some of their favorite spots
include the neck, under arms, groin, behind ears, under breasts, on the head
and behind knees.  It's still good to check everywhere though as those
suckers will latch-on in any place they can.  We have a huge grass area
right off of our patio and we get lots and lots of spiders.  I've grown to
love those little suckers because we've caught them eating ticks in their
webs on several occasions.  So, as long as they're not moving indoors,
they're welcome. GRIN

Have a great day,

Erin

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Gabe Vega
Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2013 6:49 AM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] Finding ticks on kids nonvisually?

this is what I always thought, when it came to dogs. that the tick, locked
itself on to the skin, rather than in to the skin.
Gabe Vega
CEO
Commtech LLC
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On Jul 10, 2013, at 6:16 AM, "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
wrote:

> The ticks I occasionally got when I was a child were usually quite 
> identifiable by touch.  The tick doesn't generally go completely under 
> the skin but has a hard part, almost like a shell, on the outside so 
> it almost feels like a small scab, perhaps roughly the size of a 
> braille "G".  There are no dots, though, it is generally fairly 
> smooth.  .  If they are there for a while, they probably do get tender 
> and may swell some, but that doesn't happen right away unless one 
> reacts particularly strongly to them.  There are different approaches 
> to getting them off if one finds them, too, so one needs to investigate
that.  When I was growing up in the fifties and sixties, the common way was
to light a match and then blow it out, and touch the tick with the hot head
of a match.  The tick was said to relax its grip and come right out.  I
suspect this isn't the preferred method now, though, but you generally can't
just pull them off.  I should add that while it was a little scarey, it
didn't hurt because the hard shell of the tick didn't transmit the heat.
The point is that one probably should research how best to remove them if
they are found.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Steve Jacobson
> 
> On Tue, 9 Jul 2013 12:41:16 -0700, Lisamaria Martinez wrote:
> 
>> From my campy friends, I'm told they can be a little tender at times 
>> and other times you can't even tell. So I think asking if Austin has 
>> any tender spots is a good way to start. Otherwise, I do believe the 
>> ticks will be an unexpected lump under the skin--usually in warm 
>> areas of the body.
> 
>> But perhaps someone who has actual experience can give you better ideas.
> 
>> LM
> 
>> On 7/9/13, Melissa Ann Riccobono <melissa at riccobono.us> wrote:
>>> Hello everyone,
>>> 
>>> Our son, Austin, is at a nature day camp this week. He is having 
>>> tons of fun, but this morning he told me that his counselors told 
>>> him to have his parents check him for ticks each night when he comes 
>>> home. This makes sense to me, but I admit this is something I have 
>>> never done before. Is there a way to check nonvisually for a tick on
your child?
>>> 
>>> Thanks for any thoughts.
>>> 
>>> Melissa
>>> 
>>> P.S. We certainly have sighted friends/neighbors who can help with 
>>> this, but I was curious if this is something Mark and I could do 
>>> ourselves.
>>> 
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> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
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